Savior in the Dark
by kidninja543
Summary: No one can evade nightmares, and the ninja can often have trouble sleeping. Thank goodness Cole is there to help the team, and set things straight with their troubled minds. Maybe now they will be able to sleep...
1. Jay's Nightmare

**A/N: Something that I just wanted to write, because it feels like Cole would just be there for them to help them with their nightmares. Just me? Okay, well, still, enjoy! C:  
**

 **Sorry if they seem a bit OOC, I tried to keep it relevant to the story, but also canon so yeah.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Ninjago, because otherwise it would be a Lego thing, lol.**

* * *

"Come on dude, just admit it! You mess up everything!"

He winced on the inside, but managed to croak out; "No...I don't…"

"Oh please, as if that's true! You know it just as well as we do that you only mess things up!"

"Wait…"

"Yeah, why bother being a ninja when you can't even go across a single rooftop?"

"That was one time…"

"Yeah, one time too many! Why do we even consider you as a brother?"

"You don't mean that…"

"Like damn we don't! Face it you're just a nuisance, and an annoying one at that! It would just be better if you disappeared!"

"No...please…"

Jay slid to the floor burying his head in his hands, trying to block out the sounds of his brothers taunts, trying to block out his families' teasing faces as they glare down at him from their position on the ship. He chanced a look up at the Destiny's Bounty, wishing immediately that he didn't.

"Wait...please, I'll do anything, just let me stay...please...you guys are like family to me!"

They all smirked; his brothers, Nya, Wu, Lloyd, everyone. The dark swirl of wind and lightning behind them made them seem all the more ominous. Lightning crackled downwards to the ground, despite Jay willing his element away. The sudden burst of lightning lit up his family, making them seem as if they were baring their teeth at him like wild animals. They threw down his nunchucks, what he most considered as meaning that he was still part of the team. Their team. They knew this. Then why… With trembling hands he picked them up, noticing something carved into the weapons: 'Get lost loser'

He weeped as his friends laughed at him, teasing him and calling him names. He didn't notice the ground opening up underneath him. Suddenly the ground collapsed, swallowing him whole, and he screamed as he fell through the dark void. Soon enough, a bright light made the scream freeze in his throat, and he threw his hands over his eyes to cover them, still holding onto his precious nunchucks.

He landed with a "Oof!" on the floor as he stared up at a burning fire...fire...fire! In the monastery! He didn't question why the old monastery was on fire again. Or even why it was whole again, crumbling down with the raging fire. He just shot up, scrambling to his feet as the heat started to make him sweat. He whipped around, desperately searching for a way out, when he saw his brothers on their elemental dragons, flying closely above the fire. Relief filled him.

"Guys! Guys over here, help me out! Zane, can Shard put out the fire?" He called out upwards, happy for their rescue. But that happiness gave way to confusion when the nindroid simply looked at him before flying higher up, joining the others, whilst still staring down at him. "...?"

"Oh please Jay." He looked up to see Kai flying near him.

"Kai! Thank goodness, come down here, I don't think our elements work together very well. Help me out, yeah?" He reached for the talon of the flaming dragon, but Kai simply tugged the blazing creature away. "Erm...Kai?"

"Haha, no. You actually think we're going to help you after everything you've done? Keep dreaming little boy, we don't want you here for anything. Stay here and don't move, you'll do all of us a favor."

Tears were threatening to spill in Jay's eyes again as he stared up at the fire ninja. "...Kai?" He whispered, all of his friends laughter playing in his mind as the fire roared closer, closer, burning him as he woke up screaming.

He scrambled into the pitch black darkness only thinking fire, fire, fire! With a thud he hit the floor, but he still struggled against the ferocious blankets that kept him entangled to death, fire, fire, fire!

"Jay?! Jay, you need to calm down, relax!"

That voice, where had he heard that voice? It was like the one in his dream, taunting him, hurting him, no! He didn't want to hear it, he didn't want to hear it! In the midst of his thrashing, strong arms encircled him, causing him more panic, more panic. "Let go of me!" He screamed. A hand snaked towards his mouth, a harsh voice whispering, "Shh, you'll wake them up!"

Wake them up? Wake who up? Jay didn't even know where he was, let alone who else was there! He kept thrashing as the mystery man started to sing a lullaby, and that's the only time during this whole ordeal that made Jay freeze. Not the realization that it was dark, not bright with flames, not the realization of having soft blankets and falling off a low bed. Not even the thought of the familiar voice. It was this lullaby that was now being sung to him. Because he knew that tune. Damn, he knew that tune so well…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Jay, want me to sing you a lullaby?" The woman above Jay cooed. He giggled, nodding up enthusiastically, scrambling into bed to hear it. The woman nodded, as did a man when he walked into the little boy's room. "Oh, you're always so ready for your mother's lullabies, Jay." Though the boy didn't really know what was funny when the two adults laughed when Jay said, "You are too dad!"

"Okay, get to bed little one." His dad said, tucking the little boy in. Jay grinned up at his mother as she started to sing in a beautiful voice;

"Hush now, the night is falling,

Hush now the moon is up

Hush now, the animals are a-sleep

Hush now, it's time for your precious dreams

As the moon will rise now, hear her gentle song

As she brings you to sleep

No need to weep

She will always be there for you

Chase away the nightmares

Keep away the darkness

Shining the path bright with her light

Until her sister has rested

And she comes back out to play

Hush now, the moon will see

Hush now, as you drift off to sleep

Hush now, keep your dreams sweet and pure

Hush now, her precious little star"

Both adults smiled at the sight of a passed out Jay, and quietly exited the room. Later into the night, Jay could be heard softly singing to himself in his sleep.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Hush now, keep your dreams sweet and pure

Hush now, her precious little star…"

Jay finished the song with the man still hugging him, then shifted until he buried his face into soft black pajama fabric, crying into Cole's chest. He knew immediately who it was, because Cole was the only one who he trusted on the team to know that lullaby, who he trusted to know that sometimes, he still sang it to himself at night when he couldn't sleep. The man never laughed at him, or teased him for the lullaby. He had only nodded, and asked Jay to teach him. At first, Jay was reluctant, yet was now more than ever relieved and happy that the other man knew the song that he held precious to his heart.

"Had a nightmare? Wait no, that's a stupid question, isn't it? It must have really been bad if you didn't even recognize me…"

"I'm sorry Cole, I was just panicked...and...and…" Jay tried to hold in his tears, but it was difficult with the other man softly reassuring him that it was alright to cry. And that's exactly what he did for a while more until all his tears were gone. Finally, Cole pulled him away and looked him in the eyes. "Wanna talk about it?"

Jay hesitated, but when he looked into his best friend's eyes, he found himself sighing and saying, "Uhm...it was just..you know...a nightmare…" he continued his story with a sigh as he noticed Cole's intense stare, "So...just...you know…"

"Jay." Said man flinched slightly at the sharp, no-nonsense tone. "Sorry...but please, just tell me Jay. You trust me right? I promise I won't tell anyone if that's what you want." Jay thought for a minute. Yes, he trusted his best friend, but he just...hated to talk about his nightmares, even as a child. Yet...yes, he could trust Cole. He sighed.

"You guys were on the Bounty and I was on the ground or something, and you guys j-just kept teasing me and calling me u-useless a-and…" Damn tears, falling again. He was sure. Cole was going to laugh at him, but the earth ninja just pulled him into a tighter hug, whispering, "Continue. I know there's more." Jay took a deep breath to steady himself and managed, "Yeah, well, you guys didn't want me on the team anymore, and you...you guys b-basically said that it would have been better had I not been al-alive."

"Oh, Jay…" Jay gave a soft pitiful whimper as he was hugged ever closer. "Jay, you know that's not true. We love you so much, and I don't know what we would do without you. We wouldn't be a family anymore. You're perfect just the way you are, I can promise you that, and I can swear on my life that the others will say the same thing, completely truthfully." That calmed him down a bit. He sniffled, a faint smile playing on his face. "Yeah ok."

Cole stood up and stretched. "Back to bed, yeah? We've got one helluva training day tomorrow. I heard Sensei's not giving us any easy tasks." Jay groaned, sluggishly walking to his bed, throwing his blanket over himself. But right before Cole left, he softly called out. "Cole, wait!"

Said man looked back. "Hm?" No, wait, it's stupid…Jay buried his face into the pillow, muttering, "Never mind…" Silence filled his room, and he assumed that Cole was gone, until the creaking of floorboards made him look up and stare curiously as Cole sat in the edge of the bed.

"Hush, now the night is falling." Jay smiled, only slightly embarrassed as he snuggled further into his blankets, Cole's voice ringing through his bedroom softly, singing the lullaby as he fell asleep.

"Hush now the moon is up

Hush now, the animals are a-sleep

Hush now, it's time for your precious dreams

As the moon will rise now, hear her gentle song

As she brings you to sleep

No need to weep

She will always be there for you

Chase away the nightmares

Keep away the darkness

Shining the path bright with her light

Until her sister has rested

And she comes back out to play

Hush now, the moon will see

Hush now, as you drift off to sleep

Hush now, keep your dreams sweet and pure

Hush now, her precious little star"

"Night, Jay"

* * *

 **A/N: So, how was that? Took a while to grammar it and all, but I hope it turned out okay lol. There will be more chapters (a'course) but I don't have a set time, maybe each week, so just keep an eye out for the new chapters. Please be patient, as this is my first time doing multiple chapters, and I'm lazy XD. Anyways, please review, compliments and criticism are very welcome, and I hope you keep reading! Have a great day/evening/night and stay stealthy my ninjas!  
**


	2. Kai's Night Terrors

**A/N: Okay, well, I realize that my cover didn't upload lmao, so now it should be ok (I hope). Thanks for the reviews, it really does make me feel happy. Ask my friends. I apparently fan girl really hard when I see a new review XD**

 **MightyShipper: You read my mind, Kai was going to be next. You have gotten what you need most! XD**

 **Ninjafan: Please don't explode in any way, lol. I need people to say alive to R &R!**

 **Steampunk Wilson: I know! Jay is also my favorite character, and it was hard to _write_ it, lol.**

 **Thanks you all for the support, it really does make my day! Now onto the story!**

* * *

The bright orange light flickered, the heat of the fire starting to seriously frustrate him, and was even beginning to hurt him, despite him being the fire ninja. He whipped around, growing desperate to find a way out of this stupid hell hole. The fire was growing around him, but he couldn't find a way out, it was getting too damn hot!

Kai shook his head, growling to himself slightly. He can't panic, he has to stay calm. This was just fire, right? It was his element for spinjitzu's sake. He could do this. Raising a hand to block his mouth and nose from the strangling black smoke, he locked in his focus and carefully walked through the calmer areas of the fire, avoiding the greedy tongues of the flames as they jumped towards him. His hand found some sort of wall, and he walked along it, trying to find a door or something. He walked twice in a circle trying to find this so called 'door'.

Was he in a box? It felt like it. It felt like he has been going in a circle-well, square in this case. He kept hitting a corner and turning, 90 degrees, he guessed. He must have done this three times, desperately starting to move faster and faster, until he was finally running in circles.

Panic was starting to set in again. How was he going to get out?! The air was getting thicker, and the flames were closing in, they were starting to burn. He willed them back, but even he couldn't control the madness spreading faster and faster in this room. He started hyperventilating, starting darting back and forth, desperate to escape. He kept ramming his shoulder into a wall, hoping for….hoping for….he didn't know what. To be honest, at this point, he was hoping for anything.

Thankfully, anything did happen, because on his third try, the wall crumbled beneath him, causing him to collapse with it. He was quick to scramble up though, shutting his eyes tight against the startling bright white that pierced through him as he ran to wherever he could, away from that box of fire. Soon enough, he stopped, hands on knees, panting his ashy lungs out. The fire ninja finally opened his eyes, shielding himself from the somewhat dimmer white that now shone through here...wherever here was.

Kai turned in a slow full circle, trying to spot anything, anything that wasn't this whiteness. There was nothing, not a shape, not a single form in the distance. Compared to the small fire box he'd just been in, this place was a wide expanse of nothingness, just slightly dimming white. He didn't know if the fire was worse than this or not...it felt like this brightness was messing with his mind, taunting him about something.

"Hello?" He tentatively called out, because he didn't know what else to do! "Kai?" He jumped at the sound of his name. Was someone else here? But where? There was no place to hide anyone. "Uhmm...hello? Who are you? _Where_ are you?"

A soft laugh filled the empty air. "Kai, it's me, Zane. You can't see me, because I'm a ghost." He was confused. A ghost? What did his friend mean by _a ghost_?

"Wait...what? Zane what are you talking about, what ghost? You're a nindroid! You're not dead yet, we oiled your damn bolts yesterday! Where are the others, what's going on Zane?"

Another chuckle, but it sounded different this time. "Kai, don't be stupid. We're right here, we're just all ghosts! Right guys?" Murmurs of agreement came from all around Kai, answering Jay's question. "W-what? H-how?"

A huff of annoyance. "Really bro? Don't you remember killing us with your element?" Kai froze. "K-killing you?" He whimpered. Nya spoke again, "Yeah, you set the Yang temple ablaze while we were in it, and ran away instead of helping us. As usual, you couldn't keep your temper in check and just had to kill us. I get that we sometimes get hurt from your fire element, but killing us Kai? Really? That's a new low for you."

By this point, Kai collapsed to the ground, staring at his hands, where bright orange fire flickered. But he hadn't called the flames up. Did the fire come by itself? Did he have no control anymore? He looked up, trying to find his friends, but apparently dead _dead_ ghosts couldn't be seen. Only cursed realm ones. "That's a lie…" he whispered, closing his eyes against the dimming white, which was fading into a bright gray. He didn't want this. He didn't want to _believe_ this.

"Oh please, you knew this day would come. It's not a surprise really, we knew you were a volcano just waiting to happen. What did you except? Oh wait, please don't tell me you actually didn't think this would happen? Pathetic. Let's go guys, we don't need someone like _this_."

Kai jumped to his feet, whipping around, hot tears trailing down his face. "Wait Cole, please! Please, I can change, yeah? I'll uh...I'll…"

"Kai! Just give it up! You weren't nothing and you aren't going to be anything _ever!_ So. Just. _Give. Up!"_

"Lloyd...please...wait…" Once more, the hotheaded ninja fell to his knees, curling up on himself. The gray has now turned to black, the darkness threatening to swallow him whole. He could no longer feel the presence of his friends. The friends who died...because of _him._ Lloyd was right. He should just give up. Why was he still trying anyways?

Smelling smoke, he lifted his wary head up. Once more, he was meet with the sight of a burning blaze, but for once he didn't care. He stayed in his fetal position, allowing the raging fire to consume him. Funny. Fire ninja dies by own element. At least he would help his friends this way…

Coughing from the smoke, Kai's eyes shot open to see the darkness, but it didn't seem as dark. In fact, it was a sort of gray, and he could see outlines of shapes in the place. No, not in earlier place he had been. _In his room._ He was in his room, and there was no fire and _it was just a dream_.

He reached a hand up to feel his face, wiping away the tears that were still trickling down his face. Kai kicked off his blankets, _it was as hot as the blazing fire,_ and spun himself so that he could place his feet on the ground, feeling the cool wood through his thin pajamas. **(A/N** since their gi seem to go like over their feet too, I kinda imagine them sleep with the full body pajamas XD **)** He forced himself to take calming deep breaths as he struggled for control, closing his eyes to avoid the gray darkness of his room. He was so focused on his breathing, he didn't notice the click of his doorknob as it turned, allowing someone entrance into his room.

Kai jumped at the sound of the bed creaking, at the feel of it dip with someone else's weight. His instincts reacted immediately and he quickly and harshly threw his elbow up at the person, only to be blocked. With a murderous glare he turned around to face the mystery person, ready to uppercut the intruder. Instead, he stared in shocked at the sight of a very amused earth ninja. "Cole?!"

Cole gave a soft laugh. "Not so loud Kai, you'll wake everyone up." Kai just stared at him for a bit, still seeing the whiteness, still hearing Cole's voice blame him for all of their deaths. "Kai? Kai!" Said man snapped to attention at Cole's slightly frantic whisper-shout. "Eh?"

Cole looked at him in worry. "Something wrong? It sounded like you were panicking a bit earlier...anything you want to tell me?" Kai glanced at him, still seeing his dream, and quickly looked down at the ground, biting his lip and shaking his head 'no'.

A started squeak forced it way out of him as warm arms circled him. "Cole! What're you doing, stop." He still refused to look up at the leader. "Hugging you, you dingus. Seriously, tell me what's wrong. You don't always need to be the tough hotheaded idiot around here." Instead of retorting, Kai just grunted, remembering how his hotheadedness got his friends hurt, _killed even_. With that thought, he froze, still staring at the ground. The idea wouldn't leave his mind, and he was scared that it was going to torture him, haunt him for the rest of his life.

The only thing that brought him out of his stare was the sharp shove from Cole, and he fell on his elbows on the soft bed. He looked up at Cole's annoyed face, and grinned sheepishly, hoping to calm the earth master. Sometimes, Cole's anger could compete against his own, especially when he was annoyed.

"Look Kai, I tried ta be nice to you, so please just tell me what's wrong?" Kai sat straight up again, leaning against his headboard this time. "Okay, okay, I had a nightmare alright?"

Cole leaned against the other side of the bed, against the footboard, as he stared at Kai with hawk eyes. "So, what happened in the nightmare?" The red clad ninja groaned, thumping his head against the wall as he stared up at the ceiling, avoiding eye contact. "Why do you want to _know_ so _damn bad?"_ He heard Cole sigh then say, "Because you sounded like you were in a lot of pain, alright? It...I want to know what happened because I...it didn't sound good, alright? So please just say it? I know you want to anyways. No one can hold in their emotions for life, Kai."

Kai winced. Even without looking, he knew that the earth element was staring at him with _that_ look, the one where no one could escape, and even villains crumpled beneath it. Kai made a note to joke about it later as revenge. After all, he knew Cole hated when they joked about it.

"Yeah, I guess it was pretty bad. It's just… I _killed you guys…_ heh… I finally self destructed and...and. Ugh, I'm just so useless, and horrible. Who the hell is this angry anyways?! One day you guys w-will be gone a-and it'll all be my f-fault! Damn it, I just….*sniff* I'm sorry." Kai buried his head in his hands and tried to hold back his tears. He felt the weight on his bed shift, and felt arms wrap around him. Unable to hold back, he cried, leaning into the hug. He couldn't remember crying this much since his parents disappeared, couldn't remember talking to anyone about this sort of stuff since he took on so much responsibility so abruptly. He never even spoke to Nya about this stuff.

After he managed to cry out whatever he's been holding back, he sighed tiredly. "Kiddo needs sleep?" Cole joked. Kai just glared back saying, "Shut up. You too, go to sleep, we both need to rest." Cole nodded, leaving Kai to curl up under the now cold blankets again. "Kai?" He looked up to see Cole leaning against the doorframe, staring intently at him. Kai just smiled. "I know Cole, thanks. I mean it, thank you for everything." Cole nodded and left, closing the door gently.

Indeed, Kai knew what Cole said nonverbally. He also knew that the man was right. He shouldn't blame himself, and that it wasn't his fault, it never will be. He's doing fine managing his anger, and doing better. Kai was glad that Cole *nonverbally* told him that it was going to be okay, that they trusted him and knew that he would never do such a thing to his family. That they would forgive him no matter what. With those comforting thought, he fell back asleep.

* * *

 **A/N:** **I was going to add a scene from Kai's nightmare where with the whole Chen-power thing, but I think I'll do that in another story, because I have ideas for it. (Ninja Translation: I forgot to put it in and am too lazy to alter it) So yeah. (Translate: If you want me to write a story like that, tell me lol.**

 **Welp, R &R, and ranks for reading! Hope you have a good morning/afternoon/evening/night wherever you are and keep on ninjaing my peps! Byeeeeee!**

 **Also, next chapter should be next week?**


	3. Lloyd's Nightime Ordeal

**A/N: Okay, I know some of you've been hoping for this revision (so have I to be honest lol) and here it is! Last part of anything with this story! I really hope you all enjoyed this! It was so much fun! Thank qqqqq! (Also the reviews are from the original chapter, so don't be confuzzled?)**

 **MightyShipper: Scream all you want, my child (^...^) I'll join you XD**

 **Ninjafan: Thanks for reading! Also ninjaing is always a real word! Lol**

 **Now onto the revised chapter :D**

* * *

He smiled, turning in a full circle to see his family all around him. The entire group was walking away from the roller coasters they had just been on, towards an exit in the amusement park to end their fun day out. Being a ninja was fun and all, but they still needed to relax once and awhile. And now that there was a new singing sensation boy band in the top ratings of "Ninjago's Most Popular", they weren't as famous, which definitely had its ups, as well as its downs.

He darted ahead of the laughing group, jumping up and down in front of a stuffed animal toy booth in time with the carousel music. He felt like his age again. Before he got hit with the aging tea, that is. His eyes sparkled as he spotted a green ninja stuffed character. He turned towards his family, about to say that he's willing to go easy on one of them in the game for it, but he froze when he came to the realization. That his family was gone.

He did a complete 180, nervously biting his lip as he searched for them. But instead of finding some familiar face, any familiar face, he found none at all. In fact, everyone was gone. The kids laughing with their parents, the grinning teenagers, and even the smiling elders had disappeared from view, the once busy walk now deserted. Even the roller coaster had screeched to a standstill, not moving at all, the eerie shadows making him shiver. The game booth guy that had just been smiling at him from behind the counter had also disappeared, and the only stuffed animal adorning the once packed shelves, was the stuffed version of him that Lloyd had wanted so badly just moments before. Now it just seemed to stare at him.

Unease began to eat at the elemental master, his skin prickling at the sudden emptiness. _Where had everyone gone?_ "H-hello? Uh- anybody here?"

Silence.

The only noise was the carousel music playing eerily throughout the empty land. A familiar chuckle rang through the air, making the faint, ghostly music all the more eerie. But...why was it so familiar? And...why did it sound...sort of...like his laugh?

And all at once, all hell broke loose.

Lloyd yelped as a sudden crack of lightning turned the once bright blue sky to a pen eerie dark green, the carousel music breaking in between notes, the terrifying laugh splitting the sky and wind, wrapping all around Lloyd. The ninja stumbled back, the hard wooden surface of the booth now behind him digging into his back as he let out a small whimper. A voice whispered into his ear, the laugh echoing around him quieting just enough for Lloyd to heard the voice that made him freeze in terror.

"Ah, Lloyd. What's wrong? Can't you handle being alone? Is it too much? Not like anyone will come back for you, you know."

A hand on Lloyd's shoulder made him jump and spin around, falling onto his back from the sudden movement. Looking up, Lloyd stared in shock at the stuffed him that he had wanted to win only moments before. This was definitely dissuading him from winning it. The hand that had stayed on his shoulder firmly grasped it, slowly tightening to a crushing feeling.

As Lloyd struggled to wiggle out of the _thing's_ iron grip, he locked eyes with the red orbs that replaced what had earlier been the stuffed character's dark green buttons. The stitched smile widened on its face, razor sharp teeth replacing the happy stitches that had once been sewn on. The teeth drew closer, the eyes shined brighter, and the grip only tightened, until Lloyd was sure his bones were at least cracked!

He screamed, finally managed to wrench himself out of the teddy's vicious grasp violently, running, running, running, far, far away. As far he could damn go. He ran away from the abandoned booth, past all the other empty games, past the deserted cotton candy machines, past the gift stores, towards where the rides were suppose to be.

But it didn't seem to matter how far or how fast he ran, because he could still hear the thing's laugh all around him, much too close, much too damn close! The scratchy yet soft voice called out to him, encased in a giggle, ""What's wrong Lloyd? Are you alone? Is no one here to help you? Can't you even help yourself? Boo, how _PITIFUL_."

Just as the last word was shouted out, the stuffed him materialized in front of him. Lloyd didn't have enough time to stop, or even slow his desperate run as he slammed into the stuffed version of him, his iron grip not wavering as he wrapped around Lloyd, screeching manically right into the elemental master's ear. Lloyd whimpered at the unwanted sounds, the feeling of being trapped, of death literally hugging him. A hand violently gripped his chin, making Lloyd stare at the dark, voidless that replaced the previous bloody red ones. Once more, Lloyd whimpered, trying hard not to let his tears drip down.

"What's this? Whittle old Lloyd's cryin? Aww, poor boy! Gee, I must have really scared you. I'm sorry. Well then I guess...In that case… Just. SUFFER! HAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

Lloyd screamed as the ground beneath him cracked, bits of ground sinking into the earth, along with him. Throwing his head up desperately, he noticed his family suddenly appear on the edge of the gaping hole one last time as they gave disappointed looks as he fell down, not a single one of his brothers trying to help. As they turned their backs, he heard someone growl, "Finally."

Shutting his eyes to try to hold back his tears, Lloyd fell deeper, and deeper in the hole. Out of nowhere, sudden hand was wrapped around his mouth, and please, no, not the stuffed monster again, please no! He writhered around the soft surface beneath him, screaming into the hand until a strong, warm hand encircled him. He struggled, the thoughts clouding him everywhere, the puppet was going to kill him, it was going to kill him!

"Lloyd! Calm down for Serpentine sake!" That voice, that voice didn't sound like the puppets. No, it sounded...much more grounded, much more solid. It wasn't the stuffed Lloyd that had tried to kill him. Hesitantly, Lloyd went limp in his attacker's arms, his screams dying down to broken breathing. After a few more minutes of silence-except for Lloyd's sobs- the voice came again, "You're not going to scream? Or fight?" He shook his head, glad to feel the arms pull away from him tentatively. He hated feeling trapped, so trapped, so weak. It was like the feeling of being possessed, trapped in his own mind, with no possibility of escape.

He shuffled to turn around on his bed, making out dark pajamas and a wary face. "Cole? W-what are you doing here?" Said ninja just smiled gently and carefully, hugging Lloyd very carefully.

"You could say that I'm helping a friend? What's wrong? Nightmare?" Lloyd nodded, still gasping out wheezy breaths, adrenaline just now starting to fade. This in turn left a lot of room for exhaustion. He yawned. Cole just laughed softly at that.

"Tired? Go back to sleep Lloyd, it was just a nightmare." Lloyd's eyes shot open, instinctively grabbing Cole's hand as he got up to leave. He knew it was childish, that it was only a nightmare, but… it felt too real. It felt like...it might come back. He panicked. "No! Please uhm...stay with me?" Cole raised an eyebrow, but sat back down anyways. Lloyd sighed and leaned against the wall, reaching over to cover himself with his blanket, sharing it when Cole sat down besides him, holding the boy against him, telling Lloyd that he wasn't going to leave.

There were a few moments of silence, enticing Lloyd to sleep, but he couldn't. After that, he felt like he couldn't ever fall asleep again. "Want to talk about it?" The gentle voice surprised him. He turned to meet Cole's eyes, gentle and warm in the cold room. Did he? Not really, but...would he feel better after? Probably. It felt too scary to hold to himself.

"Oh, you know...the usual horror movie nightmare. Stuffed animal coming to life and trying to kill me. Just…yeah." He didn't want to mention his fear. Actually, it probably wouldn't matter anyways. Cole probably already knew what his biggest fear was. It wasn't like something like this to go unnoticed by him.

"Were you alone in your dream?" Cole asked. Lloyd nodded. Might as well tell him. There was no point in not doing so. "Yeah...there was no one around, as if everyone just up and left me. I was all alone with no one…" Tears that weren't wanted began falling down his face, despite him trying to force them back silently. He just stared at the mattress, crying, not even knowing why. Arms circled him and he buried his head into the warm chest, listening to Cole's heart beat. It was calming to him.

"Lloyd...no one is going to leave you. If they do..they don't know what they're leaving behind. And I promise that no matter what, I will always be besides you. Can you give me any reason why I would leave? No? Good. Because that's exactly why I'm staying. Because there is no reason why I need to leave. The same goes for everyone else. Lloyd, we love you and no one is going anywhere. Promise."

Cole looked down for confirmation that the boy had calmed down, but was instead met with snores. At first he was shocked, before the realization that Lloyd must have fallen asleep came to him. Great to know that his speech was boring enough to sleep through. Though his previous students, back when they were teachers, have proven that as well.

Cole gently lifted the boy, properly laying him down on the bed, carefully tucking him in. What a night. Poor Lloyd, he was so scared of being alone. It was a bad fear, especially heightened after him being possessed. At the doorway, Cole stopped, turning and whispering, "Goodnight Lloyd" before exiting. He could've sworn that a soft whisper of, "Night, Cole." played through the cracks of the closing door.

* * *

 **A/N: Welp! There's the revised version! I hope it's at least a little bit better! I didn't get too much of a chance to really revise it as much as I wanted, especially them talking about the nightmare, but it'll do. I've gotta get to my next class :P Anyways, really hope you enjoyed! Have a good morning/afternoon/evening/night my kiddos! Keep on training your ninja skills! L8r!**


	4. Zane's Dark Illusion

**A/N: Heh..heh...ha...yeah...I know I've been gone for far too long. Like literally almost a year. Uhm...yeah...stuff happened. I'm really sorry that it's been so long. I guess here's the next chapter? Hopefully I'll at least finish this story. Again, I'm really sorry that it's been so long and I'm really sorry for the delay! Also this story might be a bit...rusty...because I had a massive writer's block while writing this chapter (and the remaining chapters to be honest). Still, hope you enjoy, and sorry once more!**

 **MightyShipper:** **Thanks for the encouragement and yes, I plan to finish this!**

 **Ninjafan:** **Thank you so much for the words! It actually kept me going to write Zane's chapter despite all the trouble that I've been having. Here's your request hehe.**

 **RandomDragon2.0:** **Thanks for reading! Don't worry more shall come heh!**

 **:** **Sorry, I was kinda disappointed while Lloyd's chapter as well. I'm in the process of rewriting it and I'm hoping that it's going to be a bit better**

 **Redfoxlover123:** **I've actually had an idea for her chapter, and that'll hopefully be posted soon, so keep a look out!**

 **Onto the chapter!**

* * *

"Father! I have an idea for Echo Zane's improvement!" Zane called out as he made his way up the stone steps. His father was watching him from the doorway of the neat little home the ninja managed to get him. It was a small shack, with surprisingly more room inside the house than there seemed from the outside. There was a basement for Dr. Julian's tinkering, and small rooms to host a bedroom, bathroom and other necessary rooms. It's not like much space is needed anyways. Zane worked with his father to set up mechanical systems to lessen the space needed for a home. For example, a flick of a switch can neatly convert the bedroom into a study within seconds. It seemed very handy for the oldened inventor.

"Oh, how nice! I just can't seem to recover the roadblock that I have in my old noggin of mine! Building you has been quiet difficult, and I'm afraid that I don't have as much ability to really recall all the blueprints now," exclaimed Julian. Ever since Dr. Julian casually mentioned needing help with building another sentient robot, Zane was eager to accompany the older man, and especially eager to try to rebuild a version of himself, a _brother_ , so to speak.

Julian walked inside, Zane close on his heels. However, his excitement quickly turned to unease, causing him to frown. The inside of the house seemed very...faded. It was like the colors on the walls were fading into one another, blurring into one another together. He shook his head. The ice ninja was just tired. Yes, that must be it. After all, they had a vigorous training the other day. Despite no villains in sight yet, they knew better than to relax. Although, perhaps not, as the other boys were glued to the couch, competing over who had the highest scoreboard on NinjagoVe-Games' latest new video game. Just as their beginning adventures, when they knew almost nothing about what lied in front of them. Zane shook his head, smiling. Yes, those were good times.

"Zane, are you coming?" Wait. Something seemed off. Zane noted that the voice sounded like his father's, yet seemed disfigured somehow. He turned to ask his father if he was alright, but was met with Dr. Julian's coat tails disappearing down the stairs to the basement. Perhaps his father was just growing old. Still, warning bells rang in his head as he tentatively made his way down the stairs. He didn't remember it being so dark down here. The basement was usually lit up with light. And there usually wasn't his father's screams, bouncing off the walls. _Wait._

Zane ran down the steps, already in the battle mindset. He was ready to go against anything that had hurt his father. Or so he thought. Because as soon as his feet hit the rickety bottom of the stairs, he received a kick to his chest that sent the ice ninja flying backwards. Grunting, he pushed off the ground, quickly flipping into a standing position, groaning and blinking rapidly when sudden bright white lights were thrown on, momentarily blinding him.

As soon as Zane got used to the lights, he saw his 'brother' standing a few feet in front of him, a sadistic grin playing across his face. But that was impossible. They didn't yet give him the ability to stand, walk, or even _smile._ And certainly not in that way.

"Echo? Brother?" Nervously, the ice nindroid slowly reached a hand behind his back, where a shuriken was kept hidden. He always had a few on him, just in case. Safety was important, after all. Especially with their luck and history. Echo Zane stepped forward stiffely, robotically. Zane grabbed his shuriken, still keeping it hidden behind his back. Echo cocked his head to the side, then muttered with a bone-chilling and empty voice, "You are no brother of mine, Zane. You are not anyone's brother. They do not consider you one. They do not love you. They will always see you as different, and shall always be separated from you. You are nobody special. You are not _Zane_."

The ice wielded was frozen to the spot, mouth agape. He was in so much shock at the harsh words, he didn't move an inch until Echo grabbed him roughly, twisting his arm behind his back sharply, causing the shuriken to drop. Zane cried out, jerking out of his faze. The ice ninja quickly flipped over his counterpart, away from his grasp. He gasped as he felt his father's hand on his shoulder. He had to protect his father figure from the now deadly robot. Turning, he kept his eyes on his 'brother', quickly guiding his father by the hand towards the staircase.

"Let's go, father! I do not know what has gotten into my brother, but we must leave now! There must have… Father?" Zane felt his arm being tugged back, and he looked up to see his father staring downward, his eyes half hidden by his falling white hair. Echo stood in the background, mad grin on his face as he watched the scene play out.

"Father, we must go and-" Zane jumped back in shock, barely avoiding the knife that had wizzed just centimeters from his face. The nindroid heard the noise as it embed itself into the wooden beam behind him, falling onto his back, staring up at in shock. "F-father?"

Julien finally made eye contact with Zane, and the ninja felt his heart skip a beat fearfully. His father's eyes were blackened, and he had a creepily easy smile on his face, as if he was okay with the idea that he just threw a knife towards his son's face. "Father?"

"Ah, Zane, don't you see? You are not needed here. Echo Zane and I have been talking. Talking about how unnecessary you are. About how it would be so much easier for you to just...leave. Please, we are just doing you a favor. Now, stand still." The ingenious psychopathic inventor was now walking towards him, Echo Zane on his heels, causing Zane to scramble backwards as he tried to understand.

"But...father, I….brother...why? Why do you want to kill me? I don't understand!" He scrambled up to his feet as another kunai was imbedded into the wooden floor besides him, centimeters from his feet.

"You don't understand?" Zane glanced up fearfully at his father. His father figure looked...different. He seemed...darker, more vicious. Instead of his earlier white scientist cloak, it was now a dark menacing grey, his glasses cracked and his eyes glistening a terrifying yellow. His teeth were pointed and sharp, making him seem all the more inhuman. This...wasn't his father.

Zane scrambled to his feet, darting towards the stairs as Dr. Julien and Echo Zane made their way towards him. But the adrenaline that pumped through him kept Zane a full staircase ahead of the two. As Zane reached out his hand to rip open the door, there was a sudden and terrifying sound of cracking below him. He looked down in horror to see the floor opening up beneath him, swallowing him up into the darkness. The frightened nindroids screams were drowned out by loud laughter, before he slammed into the ground, unable to feel anything.

Zane blinked, trying to get used to his surroundings when he noticed that he wasn't in his father's home anymore. He wasn't on the stairs, wasn't falling, wasn't...anything. Wait, was he even standing or sitting? Was he floating? He couldn't tell. There was literally nothing around him. Was this a black hole affect? A void?

That's what he thought as he turned around. Well, he hoped he was turning around. It felt like he did? But Zane wasn't sure. What could he be sure of? The voice. He gasped as a loud thunder clap echoed through this void, letting out a sudden scream as a sword flew towards him, the only other thing in this emptiness, the only kill-

Zane shot up in his bed, breathing heavily. Wait, he didn't need to breathe. He was a nindroid, he didn't need oxygen, wasn't _supposed to dream._ And yet…

The memories of the nightmare came back, and he curled up on himself, sobbing despite himself. _Just a nightmare, just a nightmare, not_ **real**!

He screeched, jumped away from the hand that was suddenly on his shoulder, before grunting as he was tackled to the ground, hand over his mouth when he instinctively reached for a shuriken.

"Zane! Relax, it's just me! Just Cole, okay? Whatever happened was just a dream, it's not real. This is real. You're safe, nothing is hurting you, and there is nothing here except us, okay? Calm down. Breathe with me, okay? Like this. Feel my heartbeat? Follow me. That's it. Calm down, that's it."

Zane followed his friends instructions, his speeding heartbeat eventually falling back into the normal beat, and his mind slowly unraveling itself, once more distinguishing reality from imagination. He let out a deep sigh, slightly shaking from his tears. "Better?" He nodded, tears still falling. He was better, but he hasn't completely recovered. But he was better.

Cole removed his arms from the hug, gently taking Zane's hand, and leading him over to the bed, to sit on the comfortable surface. "Wanna talk about it?" He asked softly. Zane nodded. Maybe Cole could help him. He didn't know what was going on, but he wanted- no, _needed_ to know.

He explained his dream, in scary detail, and watched as Cole's face turned stoney at the story. In the end, he was crying again, Cole hugging the nindroid carefully, whispering reassurance to him.

"W-what does it mean?" The nindroid has not idea. As nindroids, Pixal and him knew a lot of different facts, and knew all the same things the others did. But this. This felt like it was beyond him. He didn't know what to make of it. He hoped Cole knew. He didn't like this dream, no, _nightmare_. It was...disturbing...to say the least. It really shook him up.

"Do you...do you still miss your dad Zane?" Cole asked, looking at him seriously.

"What? Of course. Very much so…"

"Well, maybe that's what's going on with him showing up in your dream. You really miss him, and could still be grieving without knowing it. Him showing up in your dreams could just be you missing him, and wishing he was still here. As for your…'brother'? Uhm...I have no idea. Maybe you wish you had someone like you near you? Or it could be something to do with those 'sky pirates' Nya and Jay have been talking about. Showing someone you can relate to...as for the nightmare part…" Cole sighed, looking deeply into Zane's eyes. "Zane, do you feel guilty? Like it's your fault that Julien died? Do you feel like you could have done something about it?"

Squirming under Cole's gaze, the nidroid looked at the ground, sighing, "Well...I suppose so. I don't how else to feel. Because it was my fault. I could have done something, I could have helped him, had I just...gotten there faster! He had so much more to see, it wasn't fair that he-"

"Zane." Said boy returned the sudden hug that wrapped around him, tears once more trailing down his face. "Trust me when I say, you've got no reason to blame yourself. Dr. Julien was an amazing inventor, friend and father, especially to you. But you can't stop the inevitable. These things happen, but you can't beat yourself over it. Things get worse if you do, and it's not worth feeling these things when you can't do anything about it."

"So, what should I do? Just forget all about it?" Zane couldn't do that. It would be too difficult, he couldn't just...forget…

"Heck no! You don't have to forget, in fact, don't. But you do have to face this head on. You can't let it control you. You have to keep living your life, for him. I know that's what he would want."

Smiling, Zane nodded, wiping away the last of his tears. "You're right. Thank you, Cole. This really helped me."

"Of course Zane! By the way, who's cooking tomorrow?"

And just like that, the two spinjitzu masters made small talk as they sat on Zane's bed in the darkness, until they both got too sleepy to continue their talk. Yawning, Cole got up, heading towards the door. Yet, he paused as Zane called him back. "Yes, Zane?"

"...Thank you. I really do appreciate you staying up so long with me to help me face this."

"Any time, buddy. Don't be scared to ask me for help, okay?"

"Okay, Cole. Good night."

"Night, Zane. Sleep well."

* * *

 **A/N: Also kunai is a small, kind of kite shaped knife that ninjas carry with them. Fun fact; they are originally meant for farming, but since ninjas are adapted to using anything around them, they learned how to make this into a weapon** ** **.****

 **Anyways, that's this chapter done. Hopefully you liked it, as I said earlier, I ran into a bit of trouble with it, so friendly critism is always helpful! Hopefully the next chapter will be out soon, though I honestly don't know when. Anyways, thank you so much for reading! Have a good morning/afternoon/evening/night and stay stealthy my ninja children!**


	5. Nya's Midnight Trials

**A/N: What's this? An update before next year? Isn't that truly something? XD Aaah, I'm so so so so so sorry that it all turned out like this! I had originally planned to have the story out within the month but- yeah. Right. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter! It's decently long and it was so much fun to write after I got out of the writers block! Enjoy!**

 **MightyShipper: Thank you, thank you, thank so so much for staying with this story and not giving up! Honestly you help me get these chapters out much faster than I think I would have otherwise. Thank you so much!**

* * *

She walked along the gently flowing stream, occasionally kicking up dust, watching half of it fall back down onto the ground, and the other half gently fall into the stream, only to be carried away down the water. She didn't really know what she was doing here. It was just comforting to be near this little area, with the weeping willows draped over the water, the gentle rushing sound soothing to anyone.

Nya sat down on a flat rock besides the stream, still kicking dust into the stream, using her powers to make a water ball, catching the little dust particles in the water ball until she got a little mud ball. Grinning, Nya threw it up, momentarily letting go of it. Of course, the moment she willed the round shape away, the mud sprayed everywhere, yet she managed to catched it all into a ball once more, playing the same game over and over again until she got bored. It was a nice day to be bored, though. Nya brought the ball closer to her, examining the mud particles within, screeching when it suddenly splattered on her face.

Jumping up, the water ninja stumbled backwards, crying out as she fell over the flat rock she had just been sitting on. "What the heck?!" She let out a cough as she stood up, wiping the mud out of her eyes and hair. What had happened? One second she had complete control of the round ball, the next it had hit her!

The master of water blinked rapidly, glaring at the mud that was slowly making its way down the slightly tilted ground, back into the stream. She let out a sigh as it disappeared into the water, trailing downstream. Tucking a hair strand behind her ear, she turned to make her way back upstream, towards home. Great, now she desperately needed a shower.

Yet before she could continue on, a garbling sound made her pause. Confused, she turned, gasping at the sight in front of her.

Above her head, shining brightly against the shining sun, a disfigured blob of water moved about, weaving its way here and there, before it gave the impression that it spotted her, shifting up a bit before coming closer to her. Uneasily, Nya stepped back, fearful at the blob of water, _that she wasn't commanding_.

"Uhm, easy there, easy. I'm your friend...so why don't you just…" Carefully, Nya willed the water blob to go back into the stream, gasping as it didn't. Why wasn't it working? It had to work, she was the master of water, she literally controlled water!

...right?

The blob suddenly darted towards her, swirling around her in quite a weird fashion, almost in a cyclone way, slowly coming closer and closer towards her. Uncomfortable, Nya held her breath and stepped into the water, mentally grumbling at how wet her hair was now. She walked into the cyclone and towards the outer edge confidently. Well, confidently until she hit something. An invisible wall. "Hmhmn?!"

The so-called water ninja pounded her fist against the invisible wall that kept her trapped inside the watery tornado. She just had to get past this last bit of water, and she was free, why couldn't she go?! Desperately, she willed the water to part to allow her an air bubble, panic setting in when it didn't happen. Now completely frightened and confused, she stepped back into the notably smaller circle of fresh air, searching for a way out.

"Let me out! C'mon, let me out! Please!" Nya spun in a circle, fear creeping up on her. Out of pure terror, she curled up on herself, hands on her ears to try to block out the insistent noise of the water as it swirled around her, threatening to drown her. "Stop, stop, STOP!"

Finally, her insistent begging seemed to have an impact, as the deafening sound finally stopped, and she couldn't feel the coldness of the cool water swirling around her. She looked up, breathing heavily. There was nothing.

As in, there was no sign of the tornado that had been there just seconds ago. There was no water blob floating anywhere, no wind, no trees disturbed. The ground didn't even have any indication of any wetness on it. The only evidence was her soaking gi and wet hair.

Shaking fearfully, Nya staggered over to the rock, gasping for breath. What was that?! Why couldn't she control it?! She was the water ninja! She mastered her full potential in half the time the guys did! While they took a few seasons to master theirs, she got hers in one season! She was almost at their level! So why the heck was the water trying to attack her?!

Was she not good enough?! Why couldn't she do it?!

As if her thoughts had summoned it, the horrifying sound of the water was back, and she glanced up to see what looked like the entire river drained. Wait. It _was_ the entire river. It floated above her, wriggling and moving in the air. _But she wasn't the one ordering it to do that._

"S-stop! Go back! Oh no…" Realizing that she had no control over the water, Nya turned to run, fear lashing through her. It was going to freaking drown her! She couldn't do it! She couldn't-

Before she could ever finish her though, the giant wave of water flew over her, engulfing her in water. She held back the urge to scream, holding in her breath as she swam...up? Down? Doesn't matter, doesn't matter _she just needed to get out of here_.

Desperately kicking outwards, Nya tried to swim one way. Was she moving? She honestly couldn't tell. The water was all around her, pressing into her, throwing her all ways around. There was panic all around, why couldn't she get out? Why couldn't she control the water?

Wait…

She was the water ninja.

Why _couldn't_ she control the water?

Closing her eyes, the young woman tried to clear her mind of the panic despite the lack of oxygen becoming painfully more pressing. Nya tried everything she could think of to try to call the water to her, to regain control. But it didn't. She could literally _feel_ it resisting, fighting against her will to let her go. She could feel it...wanting to drown her.

Then there was only one other option. It had to work. Calling all her energy into her hand, she imagined Seafoam, her elemental dragon. Sure it was a weird name, but it felt right. Besides, if there was a earth dragon named Rocky, there could be a water dragon named Seafoam, right?

Anyways, that's besides the point. Right now, Nya spread her arms wide, feeling the familiar tingle of calling up her dragon, opening her eyes to try to spot Seafoam in the water.

...but nobody came.

And finally, Nya allowed herself to feel true panic as air bubbles slipped past her lips way too fast, much too fast-

And then there was air.

Nya shot up, hand instinctively wrapping itself around her mouth, the other on her too fast heartbeat. She scanned the room - _wait it wasn't river water in her eyes, it was tears_ \- noting the darkness and familiarity of the room. Because it was a room. Not a river. Not the outside. For the longest second, she just stared, absolutely silent and absolutely in shock - before she broke down.

Tightening the hand around her mouth to muffle her sobs, the water ninja curled into a ball, shivering at the sudden coldness she felt. But she didn't let herself cry for long. After a few mere minutes of her self-pitying, she sniffled, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. Taking a few shuddering breaths, she swung her feet over her bed, shivering at the feel of cold wood against her skin. Pushing off of her bed, Nya stumbled towards her door, making her way down to the kitchen.

Turning the corner into the kitchen, the lone female blinked as she flicked on the lights, padding over to the cupboard, grabbing a glass from the shelf. Turning to the sink, she stared at the faucet absently, nightmare still fresh in her mind. She probably wouldn't have looked away had a cough not tore her gaze away.

"Aah!"

All she saw was the flash of black as someone darted towards the glass, catching it before it shattered against the ground. Standing up, the figure gave her a lopsided smile. "Hey, Nya."

The elementalist leaned against the counter behind her, poor heart still racing. "Geez, Cole! Don't scare me like that!"

"Shh...I don't wanna wake the others up." He gently motioned her aside, filling the cup with tap water and handing it to her. "Speaking of which...why are you up?"

Instead of answering, Nya just sipped at the cup painfully slow, making it as obvious as she could that she didn't want to talk about it. Too bad Cole was too stubborn.

"Did you have a nightmare Nya?"

She sipped.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Another sip.

"Was it about something you're afraid of?"

Sip.

"Was it about your powers?"

S-pause.

"It was, wasn't it?"

Still silent, Nya turned her head to the side, unwanted tears already making their way down her cheeks as the nightmare resurfaced. "Nya?"

The quiet word was underlined as Cole made his way around to look at Nya, frowning at her tears. "Okay…" he looked down at the cup in her hands for a few seconds, then took it. Placing it on the table, he led her to a chair wordlessly, thankfully not saying nor doing anything as the scared female tried to fight back her tears, small sniffled being made present. Still, she watched Cole as he flitted about the kitchen, trying to seem strong for the sake of her reputation.

The earth ninja, on the other hand, reached up to grab another cup from the top of the shelf, turning to the fridge to grab a milk carton. He found a pot somewhere in the cupboards, warming up the milk that way for the sake of not having the microwave beep and wake everyone up. She observed as he walked here and there, gathering supplies and throwing them onto the kitchen counter, the scene before her working as a distraction from her small breakdown. Once the milk was ready, she watched as he mixed some in with hot chocolate powder, adding some things in. Grinning, he walked back with both cups, nodding for her to turn off the light and follow. She did, and they arrived at her room quickly, turning on some fairy lights she kept beside her bed for the sake of not having such bright lights all the time.

Standing in the doorway, Nya watched carefully as Cole placed the drinks on her desk, doing...something...to her bed. When he was finished, she grinned at the blanket fort he made up, waving to her to crawl inside. She did so, handing Cole both hot chocolates as she crawled through. She let out a small laugh at the scene. Cole was sitting cross legged in front of her, grinning big. All around her, her bed sheets were transformed into the perfect blanket fort, Cole's phone set up before them, ready to play "Polar Express". Nya's favorite childhood movie. He handed her her hot chocolate, exactly how she liked it. Candy cane swirls dipped in, and too many marshmallows and too much whipped cream. She made her way over to sit besides him, smiling at the movie playing in the background. "How'd you know what I like?"

Cole rolled his eyes playfully. "Trust me, when Kai and Jay talk so much about you, it's hard to not remember your favorite things." Nya snorted. "So...wanna talk about your nightmare?"

And funny thing is. She did.

Normally, she would think it as...ridiculous. A sign of weakness if you will. She normally would never talk about her fears like that. But right now, she felt safe with her favorite things. So she did.

As she recounted the story, Cole's face changed, saddening at the end. For a few seconds they didn't speak, the only sound was the conductor singing to the children about the hot chocolate. Then, Cole spoke. "Are you still scared of losing control?"

"...I guess…"

"Why?"

She shrugged. "I don't know...it's not exactly easy controlling water. Plus, it can be dangerous…"

"Yeah, so I've heard. But you know why I think you'll be fine?"

"...no?"

"Because you're Nya! You've gotten a hang of your powers twice the speed we did! You already got your elemental dragon when it took us forever! I don't think you need to worry Nya. And besides. If anything, we've got your back."

Nya grinned beneath her cup. Honestly, she didn't need to any more convincing. It was great enough to hear the words from Cole. The dream might have shaken her, but she realized that what Cole said was true.

"...you were just trying to get me to say that, weren't you?"

"What! No, Cole! I would- I would neeeever…!"

"Liar!"

The duo laughed, settling back comfortably into the blankets. The warmth of the hot chocolate and the realization that she was safe settled into Nya, making her feel sleepy. But before she fell asleep, she slurred, "Hey Cole?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you...it really did help."

"Of course Nya. Sweet dreams."

And what do you know. The only dreams Nya hand were of the Polar Express riding across the hot chocolate lake.

* * *

 **A/N: How's that for adorable? ;) Just a reminder, you can think of any of these chapters as genetic or romantic, all up to you. Once more y'all, I'm so sorry! Thank you if you're still reading this, I don't know when the next chapter will be out, but keep an eye out! Thank you so so so much and have a good morning/afternoon/evening/night! Keep them ninja moves on my friends!**


	6. Cole's Twilight Torment

**A/N: Hellooooo there my little ninjas, how ya'lls doing todayyyy? Great? Good, because I wrote a it of an angst coaster so hahaha! :D Lol, but in all seriousness, I had a block, but when I just got to writing again, it got pretty angsty and sad really quick, sooo...warning? I didn't really expect it myself to be honest XD Anyways, it feels a bit sad to end this, but to be fair it was supposed to end last year, given the original schedule heh… Anyways, hope you enjoy this, again, warning, might be too angsty for some people (everyone has a different comfort level :) ), and there is a paragraph where I'll put a small warning just in case some people don't feel comfortable with dark stuff.. (thou it *is* a nightmare fic for a reason…)**

 **Lotr. avengers. ninjago. httyd15: (I'm sorry I couldn't properly write your name, it wouldn't save as it was) Thanks for the encouragement! I love nightmare fics too! (Must be why I write them) XD**

 **Steampunk Wilson: My thoughts exactly :D They really didn't try to set up a friendship between the two otherwise, what a shame. I think they'd have a great friendship :)**

 **MightyShipper: Thank you so much! Again, you along with everyone else who stuck with my story helped me finish it, even if it did take this long! Hopevyou enjoyed it! :D**

 **JBomb217: Thank youuuu! I kind of feel like Cole might be a bit more cuddly or at least not as uptight or something if he's around Nya? Might sound weird but eh :D**

 **NinjagoFangurl7: Thank youuuu so much!**

 **RandomDragon2.0: Thank you! I wasn't completely sure if I did, but I'm so glad you think so! As you wish, here's more XD**

 **Anyways, enough of my talk! Let's goooooo!**

* * *

 _Okay...officially weird…_

 _Cole glanced around at the shiny space, flinching as the floating lights burned his eyes. They were… just a ball of light… He couldn't see a source or anything. The lights circled around him. He thinks. They were way too bright and there were way too many of them. It was uncomfortable._

" _Hello? Anyone around here? Jay? Zane? Kai? Nya? LLoyd?"_

 _Nothing but his voice replied, echoing the words back at him, the whiteness covering it, hiding whatever was...wherever he was._

 _Growing nervous with every passing second, Cole turned. Or at least tried to. Was he actually turning? The brightness all around him made it seem as if he was in one place all the time. Was he? He really couldn't tell. It wasn't comfortable. It was making him really anxious._

 _Desperately trying to hold his breath, keeping it calm and as steady as he could in his slowly panicking state, Cole wiped away his sudden tears. Surely there had to be some form of humanity, right? He couldn't be the only one here...what about his family? His dad? His brothers? All of his friends?_

 _Panic stretched in his chest and Cole pulled his knees up to his chest- the one movement that proved he could move- wrapping his arms around his legs with a whimper. He wanted someone besides him. He was so used to being alone, especially with his mother gone, and his father away at work most days to make sure little Cole had everything he could want. When he became part of the team, he really didn't know what to think. He was independent and knew how to lead, sure, but the thought of taking care of what used to be strangers was completely alien to him. He didn't really like it._

 _Until they started caring for each other. He didn't know when it happened. It just did. And now Cole would give up his life to protect his family. And he knows they would do the same. But right now..._ _ **he was alone.**_

" _Guys? P-please, if this is a joke...i-it's not f-funny."_

 _He didn't like the white. It was too bright, it was messing with his head. He wanted someone to talk to, or at least see so that it reassures him that he's not alone…_

 _Alone…_

" _Alone…"_

 _Was that...a voice?_

" _ **Alone…**_ "

 _No...please...stop..._

" _ **Alone…"**_

 _STOP!_

 _Cole screamed as loud as he could and suddenly it was as if the entire world collapsed, sudden wide crack appearing in the brightness! Cole's head snapped up as he watched the small cracks widen fearfully, the place he was in turning from a room temperature to almost arctic. He flinched as something started to drip from the cracks, the liquid (was it a liquid?) swirling around at the mouth of the crack before dripping down, most likely along some kind of walls as it kept an even pace downwards. A dark black dripped down first, an angry red soon following, but they never seemed to touch._

 _Slowly, they inched down lower and lower in the space he was in, until the odd lines, liquids, solids whatever they were suddenly froze without warning. Just like snakes, the perfectly shaped lines slowly arched up in the air, wriggling up higher and higher until they were standing up like hypnotized cobras, a small bit at the end flipped in half to make it seem as though it were looking at the area around him. Slowly, Cole nervously took a step back- or did he?- and shivered in the chilling temperature._

 _Out of nowhere, the black and red vines almost seemed to zero in on him, then rushed at him faster than he could blink. Cole screamed as the wirey things wrapped around him, not yet touching him, but teasing him, inching around him closer and closer, keeping the same distance from him no matter how he tried to move, or even_ if _he was moving. The sky, or ground or something from some part in the infinite space flashed even whiter, almost like lightning, and the lines tightened in an instant, wrapping around him, taking his breath away so that he couldn't even scream. The lines felt like silky smooth rope, yet wraped hard enough around himself to make him feel the pain all around him._

 _As soon as the 'ropes' wrapped around the Earth master, Cole tried to scream, trying his hardest to wriggle out of them, his silent scream almost echoing despite his lack of sound into the vast space he was in. Gaining his voice back, he pleaded into the blank canvas, hoping to hear a voice other than his own screaming back at him, yelling at him to 'please, please, someone help me!'_

 _Out of nowhere, a violent pulling silenced him, and he looked behind him to see the two pieces of rope, one bloody red, another a painful black contrast against the white. They tugged harder, almost painful and started towing Cole to- somewhere. For a few seconds, Cole froze in shocked fear, until he noticed the direction they were taking. The direction of the wide crack. Within a second, he had started to thrash around, screams once more filling the air around him, but it only made the ropes wriggle towards the crack faster and faster until Cole slammed his eyes shut, trying to curl up in himself, the looming crack swallowing him whole-_

 _And then there was nothing. No sound. No ropes. No weight. Cole cracked an eye open to see blackness all around him, his body still bound, but the ropes no longer visible. He called out in the darkness, but even his voice was gone. Just as he was about to panic, Cole was thrown backwards, and suddenly everything happened at once-_

 _The wind whistled much too loudly in his ear, there was a ground and sky visible; the sky shone a violent red and purple, the ground a broken, apocalyptic brown. Gravity proved itself to exist at that moment as a Cole's back dipped downward, his body falling at rapid speeds towards the ground. Cole screamed, the ropes suddenly slipping from their grip as the Spinjitzu master thrashed around desperately his mind clouded with fear. Literally only feet before Cole hit the ground, he remembered the airjitzu he and his brothers learned. Quickly he tightened himself, concentrating just enough to managed to slow his descent. Still, he fell too quickly for his mistake to be fully fixed before he hit the ground. Instead of a smooth landing, Cole grunted as he hit the ground hard, tumbling safely to a stop. For a few seconds, he laid there, gasping out his momentary fear of the deadly fall._

— _-Warning I guess? Just in case :P-_

 _After a few good seconds of reassuring himself that he wasn't dead, Cole slowly and shakily turned to his side after assessing himself as healthy- or at least with no broken bones. Crawling to his hands and knees, he managed to look up. The color drained from his face at the sight he saw. Suddenly, the fall didn't seem so bad anymore. In fact. Now he even wished he hadn't caught himself. Zombie-like, Cole staggered to his feet, dragging himself to his friends. He didn't know if they were dead or unconscious or anything. He could just see their backs, lying down on the ground almost peacefully, broken bits of glass and plastic strewn about in the dirty ground around them. Before Cole could reach out to one of them- Jay was in front of him- a sudden windstorm shot towards him out of nowhere! Cole screamed once more, hands darting to cover his face against the pieces of plastic and glass flying around. He moved his fingers just in time to see a large piece of glass flying straight towards him-_

— _-—-You're good :D -—-_

And he woke up screaming.

Shooting up in bed, the sheets tangled between his legs, his face glistening in sweat. The strong moonlight made shadows dance around the room, made the figures besides his bed look terrifying- wait-

Heart still racing and brain still mushed, Cole tried to scramble backwards, a broken cry breaking off from him as he hit the wall. One hand flew up to his face to protect himself, another straight out as if he could keep the things besides him at bay.

Nothing moved for a good few seconds, giving Cole just enough time to calm down somewhat, his breathing slowing, the ringing in his ears slowly fading away. His vision cleared a bit, though the rush of tears kept him from seeing perfectly. Slowly, he lowered his arm, exhaustion taking him over. He looked up to see his family standing in front of him, worry painting their faces. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Cole still struggling to breathe at a normal rate, Jay slowly made his way onto the bed, sitting right in front of Cole. He held out a hand and Cole tentatively took it, scared that the boy might disappear in a second. Slowly, Jay led him to the edge of the bed, where the others gathered in for a group hug. Still scared, Cole just hugged them tightly, holding on as if it would be the end of the world tomorrow. It sure felt like it.

After a good few minutes of hugs, the group broke apart, Cole somewhat saddened, but he knew he would have to face _this_ now. He kept his gaze to the ground as his family crowded around him. Kai started the conversation, not all that surprisingly.

"Uhm, Cole? You alright?"

Nodding, Cole bit his lip. He really didn't want to talk to his brothers about this.

"Do you wanna tell us what happened?"

Jay.

Cole shook his head 'no' ever so slightly.

"You know it's better to talk about it."

Nya.

He nodded. He knew.

"Well, why don't you? It'll be better once you do, we promise. You can trust us."

Zane.

He stayed still.

"We're your family. We want to help you."

Lloyd.

Still, he didn't move.

Finally, he sighed. "Okay…."

Nervously, he began to tell his nightmare tale. Somewhere in the middle of it, he was handed a cup of hot chocolate. Someone draped a blanket over his shoulders. A hand rubbed comforting circles on his back. A finger wiped away his fresh tears. At the end of the story, he was feeling so, _so_ much better. He smiled lightly, at last looking up from where he was studying the floor the entire time. His family had various expressions. Kai had a determined face, as though he wouldn't let anything hurt Cole ever again. LLoyd looked upset, but understanding. Zane had a neutral expression, but Cole could easily distinguish the saddened look in his downcast eyes. Nya looked horrified, and Jay looked understanding. He gave a small smile to reassure them, and they gave a small smile back. But it meant more than just a reassurance. It meant that he knew everything was okay, because his family was there. And they knew that he was going to be okay, because they were going to take care of them. It was incredible to Cole how far they've gone in such a short amount of time, when they've been such strangers so long ago. It was almost like destiny.

His thoughts were interrupted, however, by Jay jumping up, clapping his hands together. He tugged on Nya's and Lloyd's arms, sharing a meaningful expression with Zane and Kai that Cole couldn't quite place. It seemed as though the others could, however, because they shared a bright smile. The trio darted out the door like little kids, while Zane and Kai plopped down on either side of Cole, starting to get him into a conversation about their old dragons, Shard, Flame and Rocky, which immediately drew Cole in. After about twenty minutes or so of talking, Jay burst in, jumping up and down on the balls of his feet excitedly. He pulled Cole's arm, ignoring Kai's, "Calm down Jay, before you take his arm off!" and instead tugging Cole towards the living room area, talking too fast for the earth master to comprehend. But he did understand that he had to close his eyes just before they got to the living room. After taking a few stumbling steps, soft hands-Nya's- took his fingers from his eyes, and he gasped at the sight before him. It was similar to the fort he made with Nya, but many, _many_ more blankets were added to the temple-blanket-fort. Some blankets and pillows were spared, haphazardly thrown on the ground to have to wrap around the group. An array of snacks were cluttering the small table, some even scattered around the floor. There was a ton of cake amongst the sweet treats! Various cups of hot chocolate, tea and juice was also strewn around, the TV lit up with a video game, colors flashing across the screen and the sounds echoing from the speakers. Cole just stared in shock at the set up. After a few seconds, he looked up at his teammate's grinning faces, squealing like a little girl. "You guyssss!"

He made his way over to the group, hugging them all as tightly as he could. But the hug was quickly over when he fell to his knees to pick up a piece of cake lying besides Zane on the table, the others laughing at his antics. Throughout the whole night, the ninjas played various games and told stories. They didn't go back to Cole's nightmare. They didn't talk about the meaning of it. They didn't try to yabba yabba about it. And that made Cole happy. Because he didn't need words. Sure some people might. Some might need distractions. Some just hugs. But Cole just needed to know that his family was there. And that they would do anything to help him. Just as he would do anything to help them. Because that's what family was for.

* * *

 **A/N: Teehee. There's that :D Sorry for the lack of dialog but I for some reaon feel like Cole would just need to know that they're there for him T.T Again, a bit saddened to see this story end. To be honest, I'm kind of proud of it, even if it did take so long. My first proper story! Anyways, thank you so so so so much for everyone who stuck with this story. You honestly and really don't understand how much that means to me! You guys will honestly always have a special place in my heart! Thank you, thank you, thank you so much! Also! Don't forget to check out my revised Lloyd nightmare! I kept true to my word and improved it a tiny bit! And thanks for reading. May you all have a good morning/afternoon/evening/night! Keep on stealthing my little ninjas!**


End file.
